SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has conducted a "strike drill"
for multiple launchers and tactical guided weapons into the
East Sea in a military drill supervised by leader Kim Jong Un
on Saturday, the North's state media reported on Sunday.

The purpose of the drill was to test performance of
"large-caliber long-range multiple rocket launchers and
tactical guided weapons by defence units," the Korean Central
News Agency said, implying that the latest firing was not the
long-range ballistic missiles that have been seen as a threat
to the United States.

Kim gave an order of firing and stressed the need to "increase
the combat ability so as to defend the political sovereignty
and economic self-sustenance" of North Korea in the face of
threats and invasions, the report said.

The statement came a day after the latest firing, which
analysts interpreted as an attempt to exert pressure on
Washington to give ground in negotiations to end the North's
nuclear programme after a summit in February ended in failure.

"Yes, the tests were the most serious since the end of 2017,
but this is largely a warning to Trump that he could lose the
talks unless Washington takes partial denuclearization steps
offered by Kim," said Shin Beom-chul, a senior fellow at the
Asan Institute for Policy Studies. "A resumption of long-range
test could be next unless Kim gets what he wants soon."

North Korean had maintained a freeze in nuclear and ballistic
missiles testing in place since 2017, which U.S. President
Donald Trump has repeatedly pointed out as an important
achievement from his engagement with Pyongyang.

The latest firing prompted Seoul to call on its communist
neighbour to "stop acts that escalate military tension on the
Korean Peninsula" on Saturday, while Trump said in a Twitter
post that he was still confident he could have a deal with Kim.

"I believe that Kim Jong Un fully realizes the great economic
potential of North Korea, & will do nothing to interfere or
end it," Trump wrote. "He also knows that I am with him &
does not want to break his promise to me. Deal will happen!"

The projectiles, fired from the east coast city of Wonsan
around 9 a.m. (0000 GMT) flew about 70 kms to 200 kms (44-124
miles) in a north-easterly direction, South Korea's Office of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement on Saturday.

The South Korean military initially described it as a missile
launch, but subsequently gave a vaguer description and said it
was conducting joint analysis with the United States of the
latest launches.

Experts say the projectiles appeared to come from multiple
rocket launchers, and were not ballistic missiles.

Talks stalled after a second summit between Kim and Trump in
Hanoi in February failed to produce a deal to end Pyongyang’s
nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.

North Korea demanded Washington to lift the U.S.-led sanctions
in return for a partial dismantling of its nuclear weapons
programme, while the United States wanted the quick rollback of
the North’s entire nuclear weapons programme.

The North's last missile launch was in November 2017, when it
tested an intercontinental ballistic missile. Soon after that
missile test, the North declared that its nuclear force was
complete, after which Pyongyang extended an olive branch to the
South and the United States.

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